This record breaking flight by Charles Kingsford Smith started out sadly, as the dour painting shows and the story accompanying the reproduction amplifies. Smithy circles the wreckage in a farewell salute to a friend lost in the crash of the British airship, R101.

In order to keep up public awareness for his airline interests and Australian aviation generally, Charles Kingsford Smith took every opportunity to make the headlines. The England to Australia route, a trip half way round the world, was a gruelling test for pilot and plane and made good press copy. Smithy had the vision to see that this was going to be the air-route (for that also read, lucrative airmail-route) for future airliners.

The flight took 9 days 22 hours, beating the previous record (Bert Hinkler’s) by five days.